Prince William praised by Chinese internet users for tough stance on wildlife trafficking
Second in line to the British throne said the trade in endangered species was a vicious form of criminality that must be stamped out to ensure the animals future survival
Britain’s Prince William has won praise from internet users in China after he visited an elephant reserve and condemned illegal wildlife trafficking as “a vicious form of criminality”.
William’s speech in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan province capped off a four-day visit to China during which he also met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing and chatted with students at a Shanghai football clinic.
The trip was William’s first to China and made him the highest-profile royal visitor since Queen Elizabeth II in 1986.
At Xishuangbanna’s Wild Elephant Valley reserve, home to some 250 to 300 wild pachyderms, the Duke of Cambridge on Wednesday called for a crackdown on the illegal wildlife trade, which he called a vicious form of criminality that erodes the rule of law, fuels conflict and might even fund terrorism.
“Traffickers think nothing of violating laws and sovereignty anywhere they can to exploit a loophole or turn a profit,” he said. “And international co-operation is our strongest defence against them.”
His speech came days after Beijing announced a one-year bar on imports of ivory carvings, a move that activists have described as largely symbolic as legal imports are minor and most seizures of illegal items are of raw ivory.